Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Dec 8, 2013 13:20:04 GMT -6
TNA Wrestling, which stands on the second rung of the professional wrestling ladder, is speaking out against whispers that the Nashville-based company is up for sale, and instead says it will focus on a new programming strategy that it hopes will close the gap between it and the undisputed industry leader, World Wrestling Entertainment.
From the days of small, regional territories to the cable television ratings wars of the 1990s, the story of professional wrestling has traditionally been told through the lens of intense competition.
But the story has changed over the last decade as the WWE, the world’s largest professional wrestling company, has gone public, taken its business international and branched out to producing movies and reality television shows. In effect, WWE, which does nearly $500 million a year in revenue, has taken near total ownership of professional wrestling ever since it bought its top competitor, WCW, in 2001.
TNA, which does business out of the third-floor offices of Cummins Station in downtown Nashville, faced down rumors in recent weeks that the company was up for sale — rumors that company President Dixie Carter steadfastly denies.
Instead, TNA is doubling down on a new cross-platform programming strategy that will bring its fans 24/7 content on television, social media and its website while blurring the lines between the fictitious story angles that play out on its weekly cable show and the real lives of the company’s in-ring talent.
Professional wrestling analysts say the industry would benefit greatly if the company’s new programming strategy paid off — both for fans seeking alternatives to the WWE, and for competition to spur the WWE to improve.
“Since we have been in business going on 12 years now, this has been an ongoing (speculation), ‘Oh, we’re going out of business. We’re not going to make it,’ ” Carter said. “Ever since we started, people were taking odds on how long we would last. This last time I think a lot of it was perpetuated by a story that Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins was going to buy it.
“I texted Billy and I said, ‘Oh really, so you’re going to buy my company? Are you excited? That’s cool.’ And he said, ‘Oh, don’t you love rumors.’ ”
After the bell rings
Carter said professional wrestling has gone through cycles, which ranged from the larger-than-life characters of the 1980s, to the 1990s’ edgier “Attitude Era.” Today, she said, wrestling fans want programming on their hand-held devices, through reality television and constant access via social media channels.
In response, the company has launched a promotion called “Where Action Never Ends,” which seeks to meet fans’ demand for more programming than the two hours of television TNA brings to Spike TV each Thursday night.
“We have 60 (wrestlers) under contract,” Carter said. “From the time we go off the air to the next week, (with) all of them, including the office, there’s always something going on as interesting as what’s on TV or sometimes more so. The thought was, why not capture that? Why not continue storylines from the time we go off the air to the time the bell rings the next Thursday and make it truly a 24/7/365 concept?”
David Shoemaker, an author and professional journalist who covers professional wrestling for several media outlets including Grantland, a division of ESPN, said the wrestling industry desperately needs TNA’s latest promotion to pay off.
He said WWE has built a virtual monopoly on professional wrestling, which is bad for the industry and especially consumers.
“The thing that’s missing in the wrestling world is competition,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker pointed out that WWE has seemingly gone to a similar strategy to TNA with its own new reality television show called “Total Divas,” which focuses on the lives of its women wrestlers, and with more content on its mobile application.
Perhaps the best thing going for TNA, Shoemaker said, is its national television deal with Spike. The company told The Tennessean that 1.5 million to 2 million people watch its programming every week. Shoemaker said the key for TNA will be to deliver programming that is unique from, and better than, what WWE offers.
'Cast of characters'
Shoemaker said industry observers are skeptical, because TNA has seemingly jumped from motto to motto and shifted its identity several times since it was founded in 2002.
“I’m interested to see where it goes and I really hope it works out for them,” Shoemaker said. “I hope at some level it works out for giving them a different identity because that’s the toughest thing for anybody to pull off. They’re fighting the good fight. I really hope they can get some stability and continuity and build themselves into something.”
Carter said TNA’s shift to cross-platform programming would help level the playing field with the WWE, which has at least 12 hours of programming on cable television now and is considering creating its own premium cable network. As an example, she pointed to the current on-air dispute between herself and star wrestler A.J. Styles, whose contract with the company actually is set to expire.
In addition to filming spots for the weekly show, TNA has posted videos about the contract dispute on its YouTube channel.
“Our biggest challenge right now is we only have two hours of TV,” she said. “We’re going up against a behemoth company with 12-plus hours in the U.S. It’s not enough real estate to get all of our characters over. With wrestling, it’s a cast of characters. So this allows us to take that into our own hands, and continue that programming when the cameras stop rolling.”
From the days of small, regional territories to the cable television ratings wars of the 1990s, the story of professional wrestling has traditionally been told through the lens of intense competition.
But the story has changed over the last decade as the WWE, the world’s largest professional wrestling company, has gone public, taken its business international and branched out to producing movies and reality television shows. In effect, WWE, which does nearly $500 million a year in revenue, has taken near total ownership of professional wrestling ever since it bought its top competitor, WCW, in 2001.
TNA, which does business out of the third-floor offices of Cummins Station in downtown Nashville, faced down rumors in recent weeks that the company was up for sale — rumors that company President Dixie Carter steadfastly denies.
Instead, TNA is doubling down on a new cross-platform programming strategy that will bring its fans 24/7 content on television, social media and its website while blurring the lines between the fictitious story angles that play out on its weekly cable show and the real lives of the company’s in-ring talent.
Professional wrestling analysts say the industry would benefit greatly if the company’s new programming strategy paid off — both for fans seeking alternatives to the WWE, and for competition to spur the WWE to improve.
“Since we have been in business going on 12 years now, this has been an ongoing (speculation), ‘Oh, we’re going out of business. We’re not going to make it,’ ” Carter said. “Ever since we started, people were taking odds on how long we would last. This last time I think a lot of it was perpetuated by a story that Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins was going to buy it.
“I texted Billy and I said, ‘Oh really, so you’re going to buy my company? Are you excited? That’s cool.’ And he said, ‘Oh, don’t you love rumors.’ ”
After the bell rings
Carter said professional wrestling has gone through cycles, which ranged from the larger-than-life characters of the 1980s, to the 1990s’ edgier “Attitude Era.” Today, she said, wrestling fans want programming on their hand-held devices, through reality television and constant access via social media channels.
In response, the company has launched a promotion called “Where Action Never Ends,” which seeks to meet fans’ demand for more programming than the two hours of television TNA brings to Spike TV each Thursday night.
“We have 60 (wrestlers) under contract,” Carter said. “From the time we go off the air to the next week, (with) all of them, including the office, there’s always something going on as interesting as what’s on TV or sometimes more so. The thought was, why not capture that? Why not continue storylines from the time we go off the air to the time the bell rings the next Thursday and make it truly a 24/7/365 concept?”
David Shoemaker, an author and professional journalist who covers professional wrestling for several media outlets including Grantland, a division of ESPN, said the wrestling industry desperately needs TNA’s latest promotion to pay off.
He said WWE has built a virtual monopoly on professional wrestling, which is bad for the industry and especially consumers.
“The thing that’s missing in the wrestling world is competition,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker pointed out that WWE has seemingly gone to a similar strategy to TNA with its own new reality television show called “Total Divas,” which focuses on the lives of its women wrestlers, and with more content on its mobile application.
Perhaps the best thing going for TNA, Shoemaker said, is its national television deal with Spike. The company told The Tennessean that 1.5 million to 2 million people watch its programming every week. Shoemaker said the key for TNA will be to deliver programming that is unique from, and better than, what WWE offers.
'Cast of characters'
Shoemaker said industry observers are skeptical, because TNA has seemingly jumped from motto to motto and shifted its identity several times since it was founded in 2002.
“I’m interested to see where it goes and I really hope it works out for them,” Shoemaker said. “I hope at some level it works out for giving them a different identity because that’s the toughest thing for anybody to pull off. They’re fighting the good fight. I really hope they can get some stability and continuity and build themselves into something.”
Carter said TNA’s shift to cross-platform programming would help level the playing field with the WWE, which has at least 12 hours of programming on cable television now and is considering creating its own premium cable network. As an example, she pointed to the current on-air dispute between herself and star wrestler A.J. Styles, whose contract with the company actually is set to expire.
In addition to filming spots for the weekly show, TNA has posted videos about the contract dispute on its YouTube channel.
“Our biggest challenge right now is we only have two hours of TV,” she said. “We’re going up against a behemoth company with 12-plus hours in the U.S. It’s not enough real estate to get all of our characters over. With wrestling, it’s a cast of characters. So this allows us to take that into our own hands, and continue that programming when the cameras stop rolling.”